A friend of mine was recently working on his laptop in a coffee shop. Preparing to shut off his MacBook, he closed the iTunes window. Surprisingly, the background music that had been playing in the store suddenly stopped. Confused, he reopened the program and the music picked back up. Why? The shop attendants, using wireless technology to pick up music from an iPod, had mistakenly tapped into his iTunes database.
This kind of occurrence is becoming common as new technology focuses on improving wireless connections and shrinking the size of portable music devices. Who gets the most from these improvements? DJ’s are the latest group to benefit from the mind-boggling advancements in the silicon realm. New devices like the pocket-sized Pacemaker make it easy for a DJ to take his or her show on the road.
This little black palm-sized device can best be described as, well, cute. The next word that comes to mind is powerful. The battery-powered device has 120 GB of storage for music files in MP3, WAV, and AAC formats (among others). According to the manufacturer, Tonium, the rechargeable battery will give you 18 hours of music playback and 5 hours of DJ operation.

But it’s not just a playback device. The dual-track system allows you to listen to one song in your headphones while the last song is playing. This allows you to select songs, make any adjustments, and match the beats.

The anticipated February release date is eagerly awaited by DJ enthusiasts around the world. But who will get the most use out of this sleek little device? If you’re a famous DJ playing at sold-out clubs, this device is probably not so useful. After all, your roadies can carry that heavy mixing equipment, no? And let’s face it, your fans want to see you behind a set of big turntables.

But for the amateur song mixer, this could be a really useful device. You can create your mixes at home on your Mac or PC using the free software made available by Pacemaker. Then take your toy with you to parties, plug into the sound system, and do your thing. The mobility and flexibility of this device will even help aspiring DJ’s get their music heard and develop a following.